Your child's strengths

As a parent it is important to lead children to discover not only their gifts and talents but their strengths. Strengths are things that they are good at and energizes them. It has to be both.

You can learn your child's learning styles and interpersonal styles by going on online to complete a free checklist or purchasing the book by Jennifer Fox. I recommend the latter. Her book, Your child's strengths:Discover them, develop them, use them, gives strengths a new meaning. The book makes so much sense and gives you an understanding of what may be going on with your child if they seem unmotivated and unsuccessful in schools.

Her book offers insight into how to determine your own strengths and challenges you not to insist that your child be exactly like you (teacher/parent). The book brings to light to the fact that certain learning styles (sits for a long time, good listener) are valued, in traditional educational settings, over other learning styles (bodily-kinestetic-likes to move, touch things and explore). Your child's strengths (the book) comes with inventories and practical exploration ideas to help you learn your families strengths. Furthermore, Jennifer offers practices steps that teachers and schools can take to channel a child's strength to excel in schools and life.

Once you learn your child's strength, it will be important to use the information. Let if guide teacher practices and processes in which the children learn subjects. At the same time it should influence where you take the child and what you take them to see. A good example Jennifer offers is matching strengths to chores. You wont want to miss this great resource.

Teach children to articulate the types of ways teacher/parents teach that make it difficult for them to learn. At the same time, teach them to state their strengths and preference for activities. Some schools are learning the hard way that teaching harder, not smarter is not increasing API scores nor it is producing critical thinking and thriving children.